Process of renewing steel rails.



Patented lune I8. IQOI.

D. H. LENTZ.

PROCESS 0F BENEWING STEEL RAILS.

(Appxiction med Aug. '1, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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No. 676,796. Patented .lune I8, |90. D. H. LENTZ.

PROCESS 0F R`ENEWING STEEL RAILS.

(Applicatin filed Aug. 1, 1900.) (No Medel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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No. 676,796. Paten-ted lune I8, I90l.

D. H. LENTZ. Y

PROCESS OF RENEWING STEEL RAILS.

` (Application med Aug. 1, 1900.) (No Model.) 3 Shqes-Sheet 3.

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'r rNITED STATES PATENT unice.

DAVID I-I. LENTZ, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO AMERICAN MCKENNA PROCESS COMPANY, OF MILVAUKEE, IVIS- CONSIN.

PROCESS oF RENEwlNe STEEL RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,796, dated .Tune 18, 1901.

Application filed August 1,1900. 'Burial No. 25,545. (No specimens.)

.To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, DAVID H. LENTZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Joliet, in the county of Vill and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Renewing Steel Rails, (Case No. 9,) of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to steel rails, and has for its object the provision of an improved method of rerolling old steel rails, which by processes practiced prior to myinvention were incapable of being satisfactorily rerolled.

My invention is designed to reroll that class of railroad-rails wherein the metal in the heads of the rails and along the upper treadsurfaces thereof is shouldered out of place to form fins, usually along the outer edge of the rail, which project from one-sixteenth to onehalf an inch from the rails. These iins are the result of heavy concentrated wheel-loads on lines of heavy traffic. As the iins are coldrolled by the action of the wheels, they are exceedingly tough and tenacious.

The process of Patent N o. 522,228, granted to E. W. McKenna July 8, 1894, was well adapted to reroll the old steel rails that were clean in cross-section or, in other words, in which the displacement of metal was downward in a vertical line from the tread; but where the metal was displaced in a horizontal direction this method was insufficient, as the exceedingly tough fins could not be properly merged with the body of the rail, although the requisite contour and cross-section could be secured. These fins were thus merely pressed back into place. The rails thus renewed were speedilyimpaired when restored to service, as the compressed fins or exfoliated metal would be shouldered out of place or shelled out, leaving the tread and head portions of the rail uneven and pitted, thereby imparting an irregular cross-section to the rails, the rails thus being untted for further efficient service.

It is impossible in rerolling rails to raise them to a welding heat. In practicing my invention instead of retaining the fins upon the rails Ieffect the complete removal of the fins,

carbon contained therein would be materially affected, after which the rail is subjected to proper rerolling mechanism to secure the desired cross-section and uniformity of crosssection thereof, the metal being filled into the voids formed by removing the iins. portance of my improved process will be appreciated when it is understood that frequently over thirty per cent. of large lots of rails that are to be renewed have the tough fins, which would prevent the rails from being satisfactorily rerolled by the processes hitherto employed. I have found that it is impossible toeffect the removal of these iins by means of hand-tools, whichl is a process very slow and expensive and, furthermore, ineffective, as loose material is bound to be left along the tread. Moreover, it is impossible to employ machine-lathes, even though cutting-tools made of the best Mushet toolsteel are employed.

I will more fully explain the manner of prosecuting my invention by the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred mechanism employed for this purpose, in which- Figure l is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, partly in section on line A B of Fig. l. Fig. Bis a sectional elevation on line C D of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is aview in cross-section of a worn rail before its passage through the grinding-machine. Fig. 5 is a similar view to that illustrated in Fig. 4, showing a rail with the fin removed. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a three-high train that may be employed to effect the desired rerolling. Fig. 7 is an end view of a furnace that may be employed for heating the rails.

The same characters of reference are used to designate like parts throughout the different gures.

The rail to be ground is entered between the upper and lower rollers a a (illustrated The im-` IOO placement or chattering by the idler-rollers d d, of which three pairs may be provided, as shown. These rollers are preferably so formed that they will engage only the web of the rail p near the fishing-angles, so that they will not interfere with the makers name, which usul ally appears in raised letters along the central portion of the web. One of the rollers of each pair is preferably so mounted that it may be adjusted toward or from the other to accommodate rails of varying sizes. The

speed at which the rail is fed past the grindl ing-wheels is to a certain extent automatically regulated, since the rail is held so firmly against lateral displacement by the guidingrollers CZ d that no hump on the side of the f rail may pass the grinder until the latter has evenly taken its predetermined cut along the edge. part of the fin the feed-rollers will merely slip upon the rail and the latter will not be pushed forward until this hump has been ground -away.

Two grinding-wheels e e are illustrated as arranged in tandem upon the grinding-table c, the corundum or emery faces of which are adapted successively to engage the side of the head of the rail as the latter is carried forward and past them by the driven rollers. These grindingwheels are illustrated as mounted upon the ends of shafts f f, which may be driven by' driving-belts 'g g,vpassing over pulleys h 7L, fixed upon the said shafts.

'The longitudinal thru-st of the shafts f f may be sustained by the set-screws i' i, mounted upon the gr-inder-frame k at the opposite ends of the shafts from the grinding-wheels e 6, these set-screws also permitting slight longitudinal adjustment vof the shafts. The shafts are journaled to rotate in bearings provided inthe grinder-frames or standards 7c `k. The latter are mounted to slide to and fro along the bed-plates Z Z, whereby the faces of the grinders may be adjusted toward or from the line vof travel of the rail to accommodate rails of different sizes, to compensate for the Wearin g away of the corundnm grindj in g-surfa-ces, and to regulate the depth of cut.

This movement of each standard or grinderframe 7c in its bed-plate may be edected by Q means of an adj ustingscreW-shaft m, engaging with the grinder-frame, operated by a hand-wheel n.

The grindi-ngsurface of each grindingwheel is perfectly disposed in a plane trans'- verse to the shaft f on which it is mounted. In 4the drawings the grinding-surface is illustra-ted as disposed in a plane at right angles with the axis. The shafts f f then are arranged substantially at right angles with the Thus if the grinder strikes an enlarged line of travel of the rail. better not to 'place these shafts at exact right angles with the rail, but inclined a little, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the annular grindingsurfaces will touch the rail only on one side of the vertical diameter of such grindingsurface, letting the rail clear it on the other side of such diameter. By this adjustment, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, the grinding action upon the rail is all in one direction, preferably upward.

Since many railway-rails are formed with the sides of the heads slanting at an angle instead of vertical, as in other cases, I have provided means for adjusting the faces of the grinders at varying angles. This may be done by employing the construction shown most clearly in Fig. 3, wherein the bed-plate Z of each grinder-frame is hinged at one end to swing about the same, throwing the face of the grinder into a slanting position. Handscrews 0 o are provided at the rear end of each bed-plate for the purpose ot' effecting this adjustment, and hinged bolts p p, with their'threaded nuts, serve to lock the parts in any position to which they may be adjusted.

In some cases a single grinding-wheel may be sufficient, but generally it is more satisfactory to employ two or more such wheels,

each cutting a little deeper than the one immediately preceding it. Thus'the first grinder may cut as deeply as is indicated by the line a: .fr of Fig. e, and the second grinder may finish the out, leaving the edge of the rail as vindicated in Fig. v5. Usually the iin is developed only upon the outer yedge of the rail, but occasionally it may be desirable to grind the otherfedge also, although it is very vseldom that the inner edge need be touched. The rail-s after having the fins removed therefrom may then be heated in the furnace illustrated in Fig. 7 to a temperature that will permit the metal thereof to be pressed into the desired shape, but will not materially affect the carbon of the steel. After the rails have thus been heated they may be passed through the rollers of the three-high train illustrated in Fig. 6, or through other rerolling device to secure the desiredcross-section of the rails, and to effect the proper iiow of metal into the worn places and into the places from which the fins were removed, to secure rails that are adapted for further service.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Lette-rs Patent-V 1. The method of renewing worn rails having fins Vor eXfoliate-d portions, which consists in removing the fins, heating the rails to a temperature near to but below the point at which the carbo-n contained therein would be materially affected, and then pressing the heated rails to secure the desired cross-section thereof, and to effect the iiow of the :metal into the porti-ons of the rails from which In practice it is ICO IIO

the ns were removed, substantially es deheated rails to secure the desired erossfseoscribed. tion thereof, substantially as described. Id

2. The method of renewing worn rails hav- In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe' ing fins o1' exfoiiated portions, which consists my name this 7 bh day of June, A. D. 1900. in removing Jshe fins, heating the rails to a temperature near to but below the point at which the carbon contained therein would be materially affected,- and then pressing the DAVID H. LENTZ. Witnesses:

GEORGE L. ORAGG, MAX W. FABEL. 

